What a week!I’m not sure about you, but time seems to be going faster and I just seem to be getting busier.I guess this is the reality of the world today…no complaints from me but sometimes its amazing how time flies!

I hope you can take 10 minutes out of your busy lives to enjoy February’s final edition of Marketing Mondays!

Following on my last blog on finding simple ways to keep our marketing skills up, I wanted to take time to discuss how education is really everywhere nowadays.

After my last blog, I got some offline feedback that made me really realize a few things.Some feedback centered around reinforcing the importance of in-class study; others mentioned that we don’t even need books/articles/websites to learn.

I’m going to speak more about the latter.

I can’t reinforce the power of studying in a classroom with similar marketing minded people but I also agree with those that feel that the world is our classroom.

As I sit on the bus observing people around me, talking to people when I’m in a shop, surfing the web or even watching TV, I’m taking information in that helps me be a better marketer.

They say that our generation is time poor (anyone disagree out there?) and if we really don’t have the time to invest in formal education, the one thing we all can do is to start opening our eyes and ears to learning through living.

What’s amazing about marketing is that it is everywhere!Every person you speak to is someone who gives you insight into their needs; every city you visit shows you a cultural uniqueness you can use in your next campaign; and every bad customer service call (and I’m sure we’ve all had at least one of those before) shows us what not to do when communicating.

As marketers, we are blessed with a profession that allows us to take these learnings and implement them in how we do our work.It’s simple – we are Learning through Life.

For the past couple of years, I’ve actively tried to do this and I feel like it’s made me better at what I do.

How do you feel about this?

Can education come merely from opening our eyes to the world around us OR does it have to come from a textbook/classroom to make it meaningful?

I know what I think but I want to hear your thoughts!Post a comment and have your say!

Have a great marketing week, take care and keep those eyes and ears open,

I think this really depends on your learning style and what career you are in. Take for instance an accountant, I'm not sure they would get the same out of billboard that a marketer would, but they would definitely have no issues paying at the cashier!

I've always found non-traditional mediums challenging, but others thrive on them. I think to have a well-rounded approach to learning, you need to infuse both traditional and non-traditional arenas into the mix.

Thoughts?

Reply

Randy

02/22/2010 7:12am

Hi Miriam: I agree, the world is a classroom for those with a healthy store of curiosity. The challenge though is confirmation bias. Most of us have a strong desire to filter our observations so that they reinforce our preconceived nootions. A key value of instruction, and classmates is their ability to challenge our preconceived notions in a way we might accept. Similarly this is a key value of exotic travel - it takes us to environments where our preconceived ideas are clearly out of place. When I was doing competitive marketing analysis, at a point 2/3 of the way through the research, I often got a disoriented feeling, because (surprise, surprise) the customers didn't look at the world the way the manufacturers did. This is the moment of insight and opportunity for a marketing person

I completely agree with both comments. Learning is a very personal thing.

To Ania's point - for myself, I thrive on classroom learning but only in a collaborative format. I've been fortunate enough to study in case study oriented environments. This works well for me because I can take the theory and distil ideas out loud. I guess this is why I am also a fan of non-traditional ways of learning - Learning through Life - as I can use what I see around me and do the same.

To Randy's point - what you've said is dead on. I think those of us who have spent time doing market research (in one way, shape or form) are very lucky in my opinion. I think we get that the customer often sees something different to what we see in our "corporate bubbles". I can't overemphasize the power of knowing your customer. If you aren't able to do this in your day-to-day, I think this is where learning from life really can help you get to know the customer in a non-traditional way.